Expanding ‘Code Without Barriers’ programme: Nadella

Bengaluru: Microsoft Chief Satya Nadella on Thursday announced the expansion of Microsoft’s ‘Code Without Barriers’ programme to India, aiming to train 75,000 women developers by 2024. The programme is to democratise access to tech skills nationwide, the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft said, as he spoke about the impact Indian developers are making in accelerating AI innovation globally during his address to 1,100 developers and technology leaders at the Microsoft AI Tour here. “One of the things that I’m very excited also is to bring one of the initiatives, which we’ve had called Code Without Barriers, and expanding to India and really helping 75,000 women developers by 2024,” Nadella said.

According to Microsoft, ‘Code Without Barriers’ programme will be expanded to India this month, as the company aims to democratise access to tech skills nationwide.

“The programme was launched in 2021 across nine Asia Pacific (APAC) countries to help close the gender gap in the region’s fast-growing cloud, AI, and digital technology sectors. It provides support, training, and networking opportunities for female developers and coders, and those in other technical roles to contribute to inclusive economic growth, encourage innovation, and reflect the region’s social makeup,” the statement said.

Microsoft said it will provide skilling and certification to 75,000 women developers in India in 2024 under the programme. Speaking about Siksha Copilot, which was jointly developed by Shikshana Foundation and Microsoft Research India, he said it empowers teachers.

“One of the things that I always think about is really empowering teachers because at the end of the day, if we can put tools in the hands of teachers, they have the ability, quite frankly, to inspire more students than any AI can. And so to me, having Shiksha Copilot really be that tool that allows teachers to be able to do their job more effectively,” the Microsoft CEO said. AI aims to improve learning outcomes, and empower teachers to create comprehensive, age-appropriate lesson plans with personalised learning experiences. It is powered by Azure OpenAI models and helps teachers develop a complete lesson plan with engaging content in 60 to 90 seconds instead of 60 to 90 minutes.

It is currently deployed in about 30 rural and urban schools in Bengaluru, India, and the Sikshana Foundation is working with Microsoft to deploy it at scale, according to Microsoft. Nadella said an open healthcare network in India was born on GitHub copilot AI tool, which are build on an open source EMR system and tell EMR system.